Odishatv Bureau
Bhubaneswar: Seven candidates including the number one and number two candidates of the BJD, Rabi Narayan Mohapatra and Dillip Tirkey and the BJD supported Independent candidate A V Swamy today filed nominations for the ensuing Rajya Sabha elections. Four other independent candidates, not supported by any political party, also filed nominations. The victory of Rabi Mohapatra, Dillip Tirkey and A V Swamy seemed imminent as the Opposition has not fielded any candidate in the fray.

Today was the last day for filing of nominations for the Rajya Sabha elections. The number one official nominee of the ruling BJD, Rabi Narayan Mohapatra, was the first candidate to file the nomination papers followed by former Hockey India captain Dillip Tirkey. Both had BJD MLAs as ten proposers. Noted social activist A V Swamy, supported by the BJD, filed his nomination papers as an Independent candidate. He had four NCP MLAs and six BJD MLAs as his proposers.

The Opposition did not field any candidate for the three seats. It hence apparently seems that the three candidates, Rabi Mohapatra, Dillip Tirkey and A V Swamy would not face any difficulty in winning the elections.

Four other independent candidates too filed nomination papers. No political party has lent suport to the four candidates. Those who filed the nomination as independent candidates were Mritunjaya Mohapatra, Ganeswar Mishra, Mamata Samantray and Birbal Kumar Sahoo. Interestingly, all the four had no proposers.

The nomination papers would be scrutinised on Tuesday while March 22 was the last day for withdrawal of nominations. The crucial elections would take place on March 30.

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